


Something New

by Trixyaas



Series: Something New [1]
Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Smut, Transphobia, kim chi being a good friend, single dad Trixie, trans!Katya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 14:11:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11830380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trixyaas/pseuds/Trixyaas
Summary: Brian is a single dad and he mostly has his shit together. That is until he meets his new neighbour Katya.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has already been posted on Artificialqueens but I thought I'd upload it on here as well. Thanks for reading! - Julie

Brian Firkus likes to think that he has his shit together. And he does. Sort of.  
He has a stable job working at a Makeup Counter because, yes, he is a guy that likes make-up and, yes, he is damn good at what he does.  
He's also a single dad and while being a single dad who loves make-up can be challenging from time to time he's managing. His daughter Keira has just started elementary school and she's incredibly smart. Maybe he is a little bit biased but he's sure he couldn't read at age four and he's allowed to be proud of his daughter, damn it!  
The two of them just moved from Wisconsin to Los Angeles because no child should have to grow up in Wisconsin, the state of serial killers. Brian had found a nice little flat not too far from the beach. It wasn't big but it was comfy and they didn't need much space. Having just moved in the two hadn't had much time to greet the neighbours and that's why he found himself standing in the kitchen at 9am trying to bake cookies. It had been Keira's idea and it was a good idea, really, an ice-breaker. But Brian was absolutely hopeless in the kitchen and now feared that he might accidentally poison the neighbours. But Keira was excited and insisted to pour in the sugar. Maybe he could blame it on her if the cookies turned out to be inedible.   
“I want to lick the spoon!” the young girl demanded and reached for it. She was still in her pyjamas but Brian had braided her hair this morning and the two braids fell neatly down her back. Brian smiled to himself. Being a hair and make-up artist did have its perks, especially when it came to little girls.  
“Ah!” Brian made and held the spoon over her head so she couldn't reach it, “What's the magic word?”. Keira rolled her eyes. “Pleeease!”, she whined and Brian handed the spoon to her. He was trying to teach her some manners for the next Christmas they were forced to spend with his parents. They had tried to talk him into letting them raise Keira, not trusting him to succeed. He couldn't even really blame them. He was only 21 when Keira appeared at his doorstep with only a note from her mother, letting Brian know that he was the father of the small, crying child and that she wasn't ready to take responsibility for their daughter. Brian had never wanted children. He didn't even like them. They were loud and demanding, but one look and he had fallen in love with Keira. 

Keira had asked about her mother for the first time three months ago and Brian had feared that day. After all, what was he supposed to say?  
'I was really really drunk and slept with a woman to prove to myself that I'm not gay or at the very least bisexual, and knocked her up?' He didn't think so. So he just tried to explain to her that he didn't know where her mother was and when she asked him if she was ever going to get a mother it had almost moved him to tears. He wasn't sure if Keira understood the concept of homosexuality but she had nodded when he told her that he was gay and that maybe one day she would get a second Daddy, even if he didn't really believed that himself.  
Where in La would he find a cute gay guy that would be up for dating someone with a four year old?

Brian put the clean licked spoon in the sink shoved the tray filled with rather sad looking piles of too sticky cookie dough in the oven.  
“Come on, we gotta get you dressed”, he took Keira by the hand and led her into her room. He hadn't had time to build up her wardrobe yet and thus her clothes were still inside the moving boxes that were stacked all over the flat. Keira insisted to dress herself, she had been doing it for a while now and to be honest Brian had a hard time with it. He was a perfectionist when it came to clothes, make-up and hair and Keira's fashion choices were...questionable. But, hey she was four, and Brian tried his best to not let her see the horror on his face when she came out of her room dressed in green tights, a red skirt and a pink shirt with blue polka dots. The red and the pink clashed terribly but Brian decided she had to learn that herself. He couldn't help but sigh a little when he saw that she had shoved three hair clasps into her hair, that did absolutely nothing besides messing up her braids. But she looked happy and when Keira was happy, Brian was happy as well. 

The cookies only burned a little bit and when Keira and Brian tried them they weren't as bad as expected. Still bad, but it could have been worse.  
When Keira slipped on her purple gumboots, Brian couldn't help himself.  
“Are you sure about these?”  
“Why?”, she looked at him with big eyes.  
“It isn't even raining and we are going to stay inside anyway.”  
“But I like them! Don't you like them? You bought them!” she protested. Brian gave up. There was simply no point in arguing with a small child.

They had four neighbours and the first three they introduced themselves to seemed relatively normal. There was an elderly woman living on the ground floor. She was happy to finally meet them and asked them to stop by for tea some time. There was a married couple that owned – to Keira's big excitement- a dog and there were three young women living in the flat above theirs who asked about Brian's wife and were delighted to learn that she was non-existent. Their last neighbour lived at the top floor and Brian had never seen them before. He didn't know what to expect.

When Keira knocked at the door they heard a loud bang followed by an even louder “Fuck!”.  
The door flung open and the smell of smoke blew into their faces.  
“Yeah?”, the woman in the doorway asked while sucking on her finger. She looked like a complete mess. Brian had disapproved of Keira's outfit but all of the sudden it didn't seem so bad. She wore a long black skirt with colourful pompoms stuck to it. Her feet were inside incredibly high glittery heels and she wore a beige shirt with fringe attached to it. Earrings that were way to big for Brian's taste and a small puppet hand was clipped to the side of her messy bun. Her eyes were piercing blue and outlined with black eyeliner. Her lips, still wrapped around her finger, were painted bright red and they were overdrawn.   
“Uhm”, Brian made, “Uh, we're he new neighbours. We just moved in a couple days ago.”  
“We made cookies!”, Keira handed her the box, “I'm Keira and this is my Dad.”  
“Brian”, said Brian and the woman, who had been focusing on Keira, jerked up.  
“What?”, she asked, finger still inside her mouth.  
“I'm Brian your new neighbour”, Brian wondered if she might be high.  
“Oh yes. Of course! Hi!” the woman exclaimed, “My name is Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova. But you can call me Katya.” She extended her hand to him, the one that previously had been in her mouth, and Brian could see a cut on her index finger.  
“Uhm”, he made again, not wanting to shake her hand, mainly because he could still see Katya's saliva on her finger.   
“Oh sorry”, she wiped her hand on her skirt and extended it again. Brian could still feel the dampness as his hand wrapped around hers. Her lipstick was slightly smudged.  
She also shook Keira's hand which he appreciated.   
“Thanks for the cookies”, she said. Her voice was very deep. “Uh do you want to come inside?”, she asked and Brian was just about to decline but Keira already nodded eagerly.

Her flat looked just like her. Messy, cluttered and all in all too much. The smell of smoke was disgusting.   
“Here, here”, she shoved them towards the kitchen. There she put the cookies on the table.  
“Would you like some coffee?”, she asked Brian and he nodded, not wanting to seem rude. She turned to Keira. “You too?”.  
Keira blinked. “I'm four”, she simply said and Brian couldn't help but grin.  
“Right. Right of course. Juice then”, she said more to herself than to her guests.  
“I'm sorry”, she then said, “I don't know to many four years old. Especially no four years old with such an amazing fashion sense! These boots are amazing!”  
Brian groaned and Keira's face lit up.  
“See, Daddy? Yekat- Yekata- Katya likes them!”  
Katya laughed “It's Yekaterina but like I said, Katya's just fine.”  
“Is that Russian?”, Brian asked and she smiled at him with the whitest teeth he had ever seen.  
“It is, actually!”  
“So you're Russian?”, he asked.  
“Oh, no. I'm from Boston.”  
She threw back her head when she saw Brian's confused look and started to laugh. It sounded more like wheezing and quickly turned into a cough that sounded rather unhealthy.  
That's when Brian saw the Adam's apple.  
“How did you get a Russian name then?”, Keira asked. Katya smirked.  
“I chose it.”  
Keira looked at her with wide eyes. “How do you choose a name? Weren't you born with one?”  
“Keira...”, Brian tried to say. He didn't want to make Katya uncomfortable but she just smiled her perfectly white smile.  
“It's fine”, she said to Brian and then she turned to Keira, “I didn't like my old name, so I changed it.”  
“Can I change my name too, Daddy?”, Keira asked with big eyes.  
“What would you want to change it to, Honey?”, he asked.  
“Uhm...”, Keira thought, “Pippi Longstocking. Like from the book we read together!”  
Katya wheezed again.  
“Absolutely not”, Brian couldn't help but laugh too.   
“Why not?”, Keira sounded upset.  
“Because that's a weird name!”  
“Katya chose a weird name too!”, she tried to defend herself.  
“Oh my god, Keira! You can't just say something like this!”, he felt his face flush red. Keira had already managed to embarrass him in front of their new neighbour. He really had to work on that manners thing. He turned to Katya who was still laughing hysterically.  
“I am so incredibly sorry”, he tried to apologize. He also tried not to stare at her moving Adam's apple.  
“It's fine”, she chuckled once she calmed down, “I suppose it is a weird name.”  
“I think we better get going”, Brian said before the whole situation became even more uncomfortable for him. “Uh, thanks for the coffee. Come on Keira.”  
Katya led them to the door.  
“Thanks for stopping by”, she showed her perfect teeth once more, “And thanks for the cookies”, she winked at Keira, “It was nice meeting you two.”  
“You too”, Brain said, almost out of the door.  
“See you around?”, she said almost hopeful. She seems lonely, Brian thought. Perhaps she was.  
“Sure”, he said and Keira waved her good-bye.   
Katya smiled one last time before closing the door between them.


	2. Chapter 2

Brian did not see Katya again for five days. However he often caught himself thinking about the weird woman living above him. He didn't know what it was but somehow he found her intriguing. Then, one day he met her on the staircase together with Keira. It was a sunny Tuesday morning and he was about to take Keira to school. The four years old was dressed in all pink, a fashion choice which Brian approved of for once, her little backpack and her two pigtails bounced as she happily jumped down the steps of the stair. Brian had to grab her backpack to hold her back before she could bump into Katya.   
It was an early morning and Katya was dressed in a short skirt and a somewhat see-through blouse. Brian could make out her red lacy bra underneath. Her make-up was smudged and faded, only her bright red lipstick, which she must have reapplied, stood out. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail but a few strands of hair had fallen out and framed her face. She smelled of smoke. Brian wondered if she had spend the night at home.  
“Good morning”, she smiled at Keira, “you're up early.”  
“I have to go to school”, the little girl explained.  
“Is it Monday already?”, the woman asked perplexed.  
“It's Tuesday”, Brian said.  
“Shit”, Katya muttered. She looked at Keira and sighed “Shit now I said shit in front of a child. Three times. Shit.” Keira giggled and Brian instinctively pulled her closer.  
“I should go”, Katya said apologetically and began to climb the stairs. Brian stared at her. After a few steps she turned around and looked him directly in the eyes.  
“It was nice seeing you again, Brian”, she winked and turned back with a flip of her ponytail.  
Brian watched her go but then he felt Keira tuck at his sleeve. “We gotta go, Dad”, she said and he took her hand. They walked next to each other in silence for a few minutes.  
“Katya is weird”, Keira said eventually. Brian nodded.  
“But also nice. She liked my shoes.” Brian nodded once more.  
“And she's pretty.”  
“You think so?”, he asked. Brian didn't think that Katya was ugly. She had nice cheekbones and an amazing smile but she looked like various pieces of ill-fitting fabric thrown together and her foundation was a tone too dark so that she had visible lines. But Keira nodded eagerly.   
“I like her”, she sighed, “do you think I could play with her?”  
“I don't know, Honey”, Brian said, “Maybe you should play with people your own age? I think Katya's pretty busy.” In reality he just didn't want his daughter to spend too much time with the strange woman. Ever since Keira was in his life he had become more wary of people and chain-smoking women who had Russian names, despite being from Boston and who couldn't seem to remember their weekends did not strike him as particularly trustworthy. 

Brian dropped Keira off at her school and kissed her on the forehead.  
“I'll pick you up later. Have a nice day, Honey.” She waved as she ran off to a group of other children her age. He looked after her for a moment and asked himself if he was a good father. That was something he asked himself quite often, if he could give her anything she needed. Sure, he loved her with all his heart but sometimes he wondered if he was too judgemental when she presented her strange outfits and if he could be more supportive of her. In particularly dark nights, when he couldn't sleep and just tossed and turned he asked himself if maybe he was too young, if she would have been better of with his parents, or if maybe she did need a mother. But then in the mornings, when she woke him up by jumping on his bed all his doubts were gone and he felt like the happiest man alive. 

Brian dropped his bag behind the counter and greeted Kim with a kiss on the cheek.  
“Hey you”, the chubby man laughed, “finally unpacked all those boxes so I can come visit?”  
He groaned and helped himself to some coffee. He and Kim had met a few years ago in Wisconsin and had become friends instantly. Kim moved to La two years ago and that's when Brian had decided to move as well. Kim was now the manager of the MAC store and had offered Brian a job, knowing how good he was with make-up.  
“The place is a complete mess”, he admitted and sipped his coffee, “I still haven't had the time to assemble Keira's wardrobe.”  
“The time or the stamina?”, Kim laughed and Brian had to grin as well.   
“How is Keira then? I haven't seen her in ages!”, the store was empty, as usual in the morning and so Kim and Brian took advantage of the quite time to catch up.  
“Oh god she's grown so much”, Brian sighed, “and she's wearing these terrible clothes and I can't say anything because she needs to find herself and so on but it's hard, Kim. It's really hard!” Kim laughed. “Last week she wore gumboots in the house”, Brain continued his complaining, “and then our wacko neighbour told her that they looked good so now I'm going to have to burn them or something”, he groaned.  
“Or you'll have to take out the neighbour”, Kim grinned.  
“Her wardrobe is probably even weirder than Keira's. What if they gang up on me?”  
“Tell me about your weird neighbour”, Kim demanded, “I love hearing about weird people.”  
“You are weird people, Kim”, Brian chuckled. “No but she's really strange. She smells like she smokes 7 packs of cigarettes a day, she thought that today was still the weekend, she has a Russian name that no one can pronounce so she just goes by 'Katya' and she's trans which means she actually chose that name. She dresses like she robbed several thrift stores, and she has like the whitest teeth ever. It's kinda freaking me out.”  
Kim threw her head back and laughed out loud “Welcome to La, Baby. When you think that's weird, you're in for a few surprises.”  
With these words he went over to the middle-aged woman who had entered the store a few moments ago to offer his help. Brian finished his coffee and started to clean up the already clean counter.

In the afternoon he picked up Keira from school. He had decided to finally get to the wardrobe today and after he heated up some leftovers he disappeared into Keira's room. At first his daughter watched him as he struggled with various screwdrivers but after fifteen minutes she lost interest. Instead she gabbed some toys and went into the living room.   
Brian had no idea how to build stuff and the instructions didn't really help much but after two hours he had done something that resembled a wardrobe. It was good enough to hold some clothes he decided and started to unpack the boxes. He thought about hiding some particularly hideous pieces but then he thought about how he had to support his daughter more and stored them in the wardrobe.  
“Keira?”, he called out as he was finished, “Keira, I'm done, do you wanna look?”. He didn't get a response. “Keira!”, he called louder this time but still nothing.  
“Keira, sweetie”, he went into the living room but she wasn't there. Panic began to rise inside him and he quickly looked inside the other rooms, calling her name. Then he discovered that the front door was open.  
“Keira?!”, he called into the hallway and suddenly he knew where she was. Taking two steps at a time he sprinted up the stairs until he reached the top floor and stood in front of Katya's door. He knocked onto it almost frantically. After a few seconds she opened it and he was greeted by her incredible smile.  
“Brian!”, she exclaimed, “It's nice to see you. Come in, come in.”  
“Is Keira with you?”, he asked out of breath.  
“Oh yeah, she came by like 40 minutes ago. Come on.” Katya grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. Her fingers were dry like she needed to moisturise them more often. Brian's hand was clammy against hers. But she didn't let go. He let himself be pulled behind her as she led him into what must have been her living room. Right in the centre sat Keira surrounded by lots of different nail polishes. She looked up as they entered the room and grinned as she spotted her father.  
“Daddy!”, she exclaimed, “Katya is doing my nails.”  
Brian tried to be angry with her, he really did. But it was hard seeing her so happy.  
“Keira, Honey! You can't just run away like that. I was worried! And you can't just go bothering the neighbours. I'm sure Katya has stuff to do”, he said as sternly as possible.  
“I'm sorry”, he turned to Katya but the blonde woman just laughed.  
“It's fine. I can use the company, really.”  
“Look, Daddy!”, Keira showed him her little nails. Each was painted in a different colour.   
“Very pretty”, he complimented her.  
“And I did Katya”, she said and Katya showed him her nails, which were equally colourful. All of them were overdrawn and, honestly, the messy look of them kind of fit. But Keira looked so proud and Katya didn't seem to mind.  
“Oh!”, Keira suddenly made, “Can we do yours now?”, her eyes sparkled with excitement.  
Brian hadn't painted his nails in a long time and he did kind of miss it, so he let himself fall onto the ground with a sigh and stretched his hands out. Keira and Katya grabbed one each and started painting. He could feel Katya's hand around his again and he watched her as she painted careful strokes of nail polish. He could see that she was concentrating because her tongue was slightly out of her mouth and he could see that she bit down on it. It was adorable.  
Keira was done quickly and his nails looked, as expected, terribly. Nevertheless he bent over and kissed the top of her head.  
“Thank you, Honey, I love it”, he mumbled and Keira smiled. His left hand, the one that Katya painted, however looked great. Nothing was overdrawn and while he normally wasn't a fan of multicoloured nails he was kind of digging the look.  
“We could head straight to Pride with our rainbow-nails”, he joked and Katya blinked.   
Then she grinned.  
“Well, maybe not straight”, she said and threw her head back laughing out loud. Her arms flailed and Brian couldn't help himself but to join. Her laugh was contagious. Even Keira laughed with them, even though Brian was sure that she didn't understand what they were laughing about.  
“I made myself laugh!”, Katya grinned once she had calmed down and Brian smiled at her.   
Maybe, he thought, she was kind of nice. She certainly was something else, something new.


	3. Chapter 3

Like every morning, Brian was up at six. He quickly jumped into the shower and got dressed, then he made himself some coffee. He still had about 45minutes until he had to wake up Keira and he appreciated the quiet. In his head he made a list of the things he planned on doing once he got off of work. He wanted the place to feel a little bit more homey and decided to put up some pictures as well as some photographs of Keira and himself.  
He had just taken his first sip of coffee as he heard the faint knock on the door. Cup still in hand, he opened it and was greeted by Katya who extended her arms towards him, holding the cookie box.  
She wore a tiny black, lacy nightgown that looked downright pornographic. Her hair was open and slightly curly as it fell down her shoulder. She wasn't wearing any make-up expect for her signature red lip. Without the contour, her chin looked wider and she appeared less feminine. She however still was absolutely beautiful, Brian thought.  
“Why are you up at this ungodly hour?”, she asked.  
“Uhm”, Brian made, “you're the one who knocked on my door.”  
“I figured you might want that back”, she said and handed him the cookie box, “Oh, is that coffee?”, Katya pointed to his cup and pushed herself past Brian, inside his flat.   
He took a deep breath to calm himself, before he closed the door and followed Katya into his kitchen, only to see that she had opened almost every cupboard and was now sitting in his chair, pouring herself some coffee. Brian closed the cupboards and took the seat opposite of her. She closed her eyes as she drank his coffee and he watched her Adam's apple move as she swallowed.  
“Why are you up, then?”, he broke the silence after a few moments.   
Katya shrugged, “Couldn't sleep.” The awkward silence came back and Brian shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  
“So, uh”, he tried to make conversation, “What do you do for a living?”  
“Oh this and that”, she answered, “I teach some French courses. I paint and sometimes I sell some of my stuff, which is always exciting. And if money's tight there's always the street corner”, she shrugged and Brian choked on his coffee. He coughed.  
“That was a joke”, Katya clarified, “I don't whore around. Any more.”  
“Another joke?”, he asked and Katya nodded.  
“What to you paint?”, he asked, “I'm actually looking for some pictures to decorate this place with.”  
“Mostly abstract stuff”, she explained and he noticed how her fingers twitched around the cup, “but if you'd like you can stop by anytime to have a look.”  
“I will”, Brian smiled at her and she smiled back. He found himself strangely enjoying her company.  
“I should wake up Keira”, he said after a while, “do you want to stay for breakfast?”  
Katya hesitated, “I really shouldn't, I...”. Brian interrupted her, “No it's fine. I bet Keira would love that, she really likes you, you know.” Katya smiled at that.  
“I'm gonna wake her up, you could set the table. There's some stuff in the fridge.” Katya nodded and stood up.  
“Oh and make some more coffee, you drank all of mine!”, Brian turned around and she gave him a thumbs up. It was weird, he thought as he made his way through still unpacked moving boxes to knock on Keira's door, sometimes Katya seemed so confident and sure of herself and just moments later she became really shy.  
“Hey sweetheart”, he said as he sat down on Keira's bed. He pushed a strand of hair back and stroked her cheek, “It's time to get up.” Keira sighed, still half asleep and leaned into his touch.  
“Come on get dresses!”, he stood up and watched her rub the sleep from her eyes. She tapped over to her wardrobe and pulled out a blue leggings, an orange skirt and a pink Barbie shirt, that Brian had bought for her, projecting his childhood dreams on to her. He would have combined it better though, he thought but he bit his tongue before he could say anything.  
His daughter got dressed quickly and he brushed her hair, pulling it into a high ponytail.   
“Come on, I've got breakfast”, he shoved her to the kitchen gently.  
There Katya was sitting on his chair and Keira gasped when she saw her. She ran towards her and climbed onto her lap, wrapping her tiny arms around her neck. She placed a sloppy kiss on Katya's cheek and the woman blushed.  
“Good morning, sunshine”, she said.  
“What are you doing here?”, Keira asked clearly excited.  
“Oh, I was just dropping of your cookie box and your father insisted I that I stay for breakfast. He even bribed me with coffee”, her eyes met Brian's. Keira giggled. Brian sat down on the chair he had sat in earlier and poured himself some of the coffee Katya had made. It was so strong, his eyes started to water and he coughed.  
“Too strong?”, Katya asked and he shook his head.  
“No, no it's fine”, he said pushing the cup away from him. Keira was still in Katya's lap and the woman poured milk into her cereal. It was an incredibly domestic scene and Brian's heart started to speed up. There they sat, all with matching nail-polish having breakfast.   
They chatted a little and after her while Brian sent Keira off to brush her teeth. Katya helped him to clean up the table. He sat the dirty dishes into the sink, so he could clean them up later, and when he turned around Katya was right there standing in front of him.  
“I need to-”, she gestured to the cupboard above Brian's head holding out a jar of honey.  
“Oh yeah”, he said and moved to the left but at the same time she moved left as well to let him pass. They moved right simultaneously, then left again. Katya laughed and set the honey down on the counter behind him. Then she grabbed his waist and pushed him aside. He watched as she had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the cupboard and her nightgown rode up, revealing a black lacy thong. Brian held his breath as he, involuntarily, starred at her ass. He could still feel her fingers on his waist. Katya turned around and smiled at him.  
“I should get going”, she said, “thanks for the breakfast. See you around?”  
Brian nodded, unable to say anything, he was so very aware of her presence, her body so close to his own. Then she stood on her tiptoes and leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.  
He could have sworn that she swayed her hips more than usual as she turned around and went to the door, not looking back once.  
Brian closed his eyes for a second when he heard the door fall shut and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.   
He went to the bathroom to splash some cold water in his face.


	4. Chapter 4

“That's new”, Kim said, pointing to Brian's nails, as he set down his bag. He had completely forgotten about them and his left hand tingled at the thought of Katya touching it carefully. He made a fist.  
“Keira wanted to paint my nails”, he explained.  
“She did a very...ambivalent job”, Kim said, “or how come your right hand looks like it was just dipped in a jar of nail polish?”  
“Katya did the other one”, Brian fumbled with his sleeve.  
“Was that your neighbour”, Kim asked clearly surprised and Brian nodded.  
“The weird one?”, Kim followed up d Brian nodded again.  
“Yesterday you told me that she scares you and now you're letting her paint your nails?”  
Brian shrugged, “Keira likes her. And she's actually kinda nice, we had breakfast together this morning.”  
Kim raised his eyebrows, “You had breakfast with your weird neighbour?”  
“She isn't weird”, Brian mumbled and Kim huffed. They drank their coffee in silence.  
“On another note”, Kim changed the subject after a while, “when can I come visit you guys? I wanna see Keira.”  
“I wanted to do some decorating today, but maybe tomorrow after work?”, Brian suggested and Kim nodded.  
“Keira's going to be super excited to see you”, he said.  
“Yeah me too”, Kim laughed, “maybe she and the weird neighbour will paint my nails too. I mean it sure is a look.”  
“Her name is Katya and she isn't weird”, Brian repeated. Kim looked at him curiously.  
“If you weren't like super gay I'd think you have a crush on her”, he grinned and Brian could feel his face flush involuntarily.   
“Fuck off!”  
“Oh my god do you?”, Kim screeched loudly.  
“Shh!”, Brian made even though the store was empty, “No I do not. I've slept with a woman once and I really don't need to repeat that.”  
“Didn't you say she's trans?”, Kim said, “maybe she's got a dick.”  
“Oh my god Kim!”, Brian said aghast, “I'm not that shallow. Also I have no idea f she has a dick. Also I'm pretty sure that's offensive.”   
Kim just shrugged and they were interrupted by the bell that signalled the arrival of a new customer.

 

Keira was sitting by the kitchen table, colouring something, while Brian stood on the couch hanging a framed photograph of Keira and himself that he had taken on their last vacation. It was one of his favourites because they weren't posing. It was a snapshot his mother had taken and the two of them looked incredibly happy in it. He didn't have the best relationship with his parents but he didn't want to deny Keira her grandparents when he already had to deny her a mother. And while he and his parents did have their differences, they loved Keira a lot and spoiled her rotten. And they took nice photos so hey, Brian thought.   
Even though he had hung several photos and a few paintings already, the wall over the couch was still looking a bit empty. And while Keira's drawings looked great on the fridge, Brian's perfectionists heart wasn't quite ready to hang them on an actual wall.  
He had to think of Katya and how she had offered to show him some of her paintings. He could imagine her so well, covered in paint, her hair behind her ears, tongue between her teeth, drawing something on a canvas.   
Kim's words echoed in his head. No, Brian thought. 24 was definitely to late to have a sexual identity crisis.  
Still he couldn't banish Katya from his mind and he stared at the naked wall. It couldn't hurt to at least look at her paintings he thought and climbed off the couch.   
“All for decorating purposes”, he said to himself and turned to Keira, who was still colouring. Her tongue was between her teeth, just like Katya's had been when she had painted his nails.   
“Sweetie is it okay when I leave you alone for 10 minutes?”, he asked and she nodded absently, fully concentrating on her work.

God, I hope I don't seem desperate, he thought when he was standing at Katya's door. He knocked carefully.   
“One sec!”, he heard Katya call from within and few moments later she opened the door.   
“Oh, it's you!”, she said surprised and smiled at him, her perfect teeth showing, “Come in”, she said and opened the door more so he could pass through.  
He almost didn't recognize her flat. There was no clutter lying around and it smelled like citrus. The smell of smoke still lingered in the air but it wasn't as strong by far.  
“You tidied”, he said surprised and she laughed.  
“My mum's coming”, she explained, “and I like to do the unexpected.”  
“Is this a bad time?”, he asked, “I can come back later.”  
“Oh bullshit, she's always late we have at least thirty minutes. How can I help you?”  
“Uhm you were telling me about your paintings this morning? I was decorating the living room and something's missing so I just thought I'd have a look”, he explained.  
Katya's eyes lit up.  
“Of course!”, she beamed, “I didn't think you were actually interested!” She took him by the hand and led him into a room he hadn't been to before. He found himself standing in the familiar mess, between bottles of paint and various brushes. Canvases were stacked into a shelf and an easel stood in the middle of the room. A half finished painting was positioned on it. It didn't really show anything but Katya had worked with rainbow colours.  
“I was inspired by our nails”, she explained and looked at Brian's hand. “Oh!”, she said surprised, “You're still wearing the nail-polish?”  
“Yeah, why is that so surprising?”, he asked.  
“No it's just – most straight guys would take it off.” Brian started to laugh at that.  
“Why is that funny?”, Katya asked confused.   
“You think I'm straight?”, he laughed and Katya looked at him.  
“You aren't?”  
“I'm really gay”, Brian grinned and now Katya started to laugh as well.  
“Oh I thought because of Keira and...sorry for assuming.”  
“It's fine, I get it”, Brian said.  
“And here I am, texting all my friends about my hot straight neighbour”, Katya winked at him and Brian could feel his face flushing red. He coughed.  
“So what are you looking for?” Brian's eyes widened.   
“Excuse me?”  
“Colour, size?”  
“What?!”, Brian asked, clearly confused.  
“I'm talking about the paintings”, Katya explained and chuckled, “Why, what were you thinking about?”  
Brian's face felt hot, he was sure he looked like a tomato.  
“Uhm”, he stuttered, “Do you have anything with pink in it?”  
“By God, you really are gay!”, Katya laughed and walked over to the shelf. She bent over and Brian couldn't help but too look at her ass. He swallowed.   
“Here we go”, he heard Katya say and the blonde woman turned around, holding a medium sized canvas. It was very abstract, Brian could see that she used big brushes and bold strokes to paint it. It was a whirlwind of different shades of pink. It looked almost unsettling and yet oddly calming. Wild and yet comforting. It was amazing.  
“Katya, this is really good!”, he gasped and the woman smiled, her cheeks turning red.  
“Thank you”, she said, “you can have it if you like.”  
“Are you sure?”, Brian asked and she nodded.  
“How much?”  
“Oh, just take it! See it as some sort of welcoming present”, she offered.  
“I can't just accept that!”, Brian said, “How much do you normally take?”  
“No, really it's fine. I don't want any money from you. It's a gift.”  
“Then let me at least invite you to dinner”, he offered and Katya smiled.  
“If you insist.”  
“It's the least I can do”, Brian laughed and took the painting from Katya to get a better look.  
“This is really beautiful”, he sighed, “Thank you.” All of the sudden he was so aware of Katya standing in front of him. She wasn't wearing heels and he was a lot taller than her. She was standing so close.  
“You're welcome”, she said quietly.   
A loud knock on the door made them jerk up and Katya ran out of the room to open it. Brian followed slowly watched as Katya hugged a small woman with short white hair who had to be her mother.  
“Hello, sweetheart”, the woman said to Katya when they ended the hug. Then she spotted Brian who was awkwardly holding the painting.  
“Oh, a visitor!”, she exclaimed and turned to Katya, “Am I interrupting something? Should I come back later?”  
“Mum”, Katya said rolling her eyes and Brian thought it was weird seeing her like this, like a daughter.  
“I'm Brian, Katya's neighbour”, he explained and extended a hand. Katya's mother shook it.  
“Brian, huh? That's a very nice name.” He could see how Katya grabbed her mothers arm.  
“I'm Pat”, she said, letting go of his hand, “It's nice to meet you. Are you the one with the daughter? Katya told me about you two. She sounds delightful! What was her name?”  
“Keira”, he answered and he tried not to smirk. Somehow the thought of Katya telling her mother about him made him happy.  
“Are you having coffee with us?”, Pat asked and Brian shook his head.  
“Keira's downstairs and I have to get back to her. But it was nice meeting you! And thanks again for the painting”, he said to Katya. He thought about hugging her goodbye, suddenly thinking of how she had kissed his cheek this morning, but he decided against it.   
When the door fell shut behind him he could hear Katya and her mother laugh about something and that sound made him happy.   
“I'm gay”, he reminded himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Kim and Brian picked Keira up from school together. He hadn't told her that he would bring Kim to surprise his daughter and he knew it was a good surprise, when he saw her eyes widen and she started running towards them. Kim crouched down and spread his arms so she could run into them and when she had reached him, he picked her up and whirled her around.   
“Hi sweetheart”, he said as he set her down, “you've grown so much!”   
Brian snorted, “You sound like every old woman ever.” Then he picked up Keira's backpack and went back to the car. Kim sat next to Keira in the back while Brian was driving and he listened to their conversation.   
“So how was school?”, Kim asked and Keira talked on and on about how her teacher had praised her for a drawing she did and how she was the only child in her class that could read and he couldn't help but to feel incredibly proud. Kim listened patiently and after a few minutes he said: “I love your nails by the way.”  
Brian almost hit the bakes at that. The sentence had sounded casual but he knew that Kim was dying to steer the conversation towards Katya. He had always been too invested in Brian's (non-existent) love life and today at work he had teased him relentlessly about the fact that he still wore the nail-polish. Brian had tried to convince him that the only reason why he still wore it was because Keira had painted the one hand but Kim wasn't having it and only laughed at him for blushing when he mentioned Katya.   
“Can I introduce you as my sort-of-straight friend now?”, he had asked and Brian had thrown a brush at him. Granted, the brush had missed Kim and he accidentally broke three lip glosses, which had only made Kim laugh more.  
“Katya did them”, Keira answered cheerfully and Brian tightened his grip around the steering wheel.   
“Who's Katya?”, Kim played dumb.  
“Our neighbour. She's so nice and so pretty”, Keira gushed and Brian could hear Kim chuckle.   
“Really?”, he asked and Keira nodded enthusiastically.   
“What do you think, Brian?”, Kim asked and Brian really had to take all his willpower to not curse him right in front of Keira.   
“I guess she's nice”, he said and Kim laughed.   
“And pretty”, Keira added, “she has really pretty clothes too.” Kim knew of Keira's questionable taste in fashion and today she was wearing a jeans skirt with green tights and a blue shirts with red hearts all over it. She looked like a canary, Brian thought and her rainbow-nails weren't helping.   
“I bet she does”, Kim said, “maybe I can meet her someday.”  
“No!”, Brian chimed in too quick and too loud. If Kim met Katya the teasing would never stop.   
“Why?”, Keira asked with big eyes, “Don't you like Katya?”  
No, no I like her”, Brian reassured and shot Kim an angry glance through the mirror, “I just don't think that Kim should meet her.”  
“But they're both my friends”, Keira protested and Brian could see Kim grin. That little shit.  
“They're not going to meet today though”, Brian said and pulled into the drive way.

They did meet today.   
Brian almost groaned when he saw Katya at the front door of their building. Keira screeched when she spotted her and ran over and Kim nudged Brian's side teasingly.  
“Fuck off”, Brian muttered now that Keira was out of earshot. Katya wore a long red skirt that had little pearls attached to it and a blouse with a flower print that wasn't matching at all. Her long blonde hair was open but she wore a hairband with a black bow on top of it. His heart skipped a beat.  
Can your own heart betray you?  
Kim grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the door.   
“You look exquisite”, Katya complimented Keira and the young girl grinned. Then Katya turned around to Brian and showed her perfect teeth.   
“Privyet”, she said.  
“Uh what?”, Brian asked, fully aware of how dumb he sounded.  
“Hello”, she translated and then looked at Kim.  
“Hi, I'm Katya”, she said and extended her hand.  
“Kim”, Kim said, “I've heard a lot about you.” Brian wanted to slap him.  
“Have you?”, she asked and looked at Brian confused.  
“I uhm, just told him about the neighbours a bit”, he answered and Katya nodded.  
“I thought you didn't want Kim to meet Katya, Daddy”, Keira piped up and Katya's smile dropped. Kim shifted next to him uncomfortably.  
“Why's that?”, she asked and looked at Brian.   
“No I didn't-”, he stuttered not really knowing what to say, “it's not-”.  
“Go on”, she said provokingly. Brian opened his mouth and said nothing.  
“Is it because I'm trans?”, she suddenly asked.  
“Oh god, no, I-it doesn't have anything to with you, it's just-”.  
“Dad, what's trans?”, Keira asked, oblivious to the tension.  
“Nothing”, Brian said because he wanted to explain the situation to Katya. When he saw her raised eyebrows he knew he fucked up.   
“For someone who should know what it feels like to be different, you really can be an asshole”, Katya said and with these words she turned around, opened the door and slammed it shut behind her.   
“Fuck”, Brian whispered. Kim put a hand on his shoulder but he shook it off, not wanting to be comforted right now. He grabbed his key and opened the door to let Kim and Keira inside. Katya was nowhere to be seen.   
“Why is Katya mad?”, Keira asked and Brian could see that she was on the verge of tears, “did I do something wrong?”   
“No, honey, everything's fine”, Brian tried to comfort her but his mind was running. Katya probably hated him and he really couldn't blame her.   
“I'm sorry, man”, Kim said next to him.  
“It's fine”, he said again and started climbing the stairs. When they had reached the flat Kim spoke up again: “Maybe you should talk to her? She seemed really upset.”  
“What would I say, Kim?”, Brian asked and he couldn't help but sound upset, “My friend thinks I have a crush on you so I didn't want him to met you?”, he whispered so Keira wouldn't hear them.  
“I'm really sorry, Brian”, Kim said again, “but I think that you should apologize and make clear that it has nothing to do with the trans thing.”  
“Yeah probably”, Brian muttered.  
“Listen, I'll make lunch and entertain Keira and you go talk to her alright?”  
“Alright”, Brian sighed. Kim pulled him into a quick hug. 

His heart felt heavy as he climbed up the stairs. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say when he knocked at her door.   
“What do you want?”, Katya said when she opened the door. Her make-up was slightly smudged and Brian's heart dropped when he realized that she had been crying.  
“I came to apologise”, he said carefully, “Kim can come on very strong and sometimes doesn't think before he speaks that's why I said I didn't want you to meet him. It has absolutely nothing to do with you or with who you are. I was a huge dick and I'm sorry.”  
Katya crooked her head and opened the door more.  
“Do you want to come in?”, she asked and Brian nodded relieved. She didn't seem too mad any more. Katya led him into her living room and gestured for him to sit on the couch. She herself sat on the ground so she could face Brian. She grabbed a cigarette and a lighter from the coffee-table and offered one to Brian who declined. She put the cigarette between her lips, lit it, and blew smoke in the air. Brian watched her every move.  
“My name was Brian too”, she said after a few minutes of silence.   
“How did you choose Katya?”, he asked.  
“Yekaterina Lobaznyuk”, she explained and Brian looked at her confused.  
“She's a Russian gymnast, her nickname is Katya as well. When I was younger I was really into gymnastics and she was one of my favourites.”  
“I like that name”; Brian said and Katya smiled.  
“It's certainly better than Brian”, she laughed and he joined in.  
“Well that was shady.”  
“Will you do me a favour?”, Katya asked and Brian nodded.  
“Sure anything.”  
“Tell Keira about trans people. Please. Kids know way too few about us and I think it's so important to educate children about gender and sexuality.”  
“I will”, Brian promised, “and I agree. I mean I grew up in Wisconsin the first time I ever heard the word 'gay' was when I was like 14.”  
Katya took another cigarette.   
“So how long have you and Kim been dating?”  
“Oh god no”, Brian laughed, “Kim isn't my boyfriend.”  
“He's cute though”, Katya grinned, “lisp and all.”  
“Yeah, no”, Brian grinned, “we work together and we're good friends but I could never date him!”  
“What do you do?”, Katya asked, holding the cigarette between two fingers. Brian could see the red lipstick stain where her lips had been wrapped around it.  
“I'm a make-up artist, actually”, he answered. Katya looked surprised.  
“Really? I would not have guessed that. Do you ever put make-up on yourself?”  
“I did Rocky Horror for a year or so. I thought about doing drag professionally but then Keira happened so that was out of the window”, he admitted.  
“I did drag”, Katya said lost in thought, “it was a really difficult time though. What was your drag name?” Brian blushed.  
“It's stupid”, he said.  
“Oh come on”, Katya said, “you owe me. You were a cunt!” Brian sighed.  
“Alright. So when I was a child I was really into Barbie, right? But my stepdad was a huge dick and I was never allowed to play with them. He was super abusive and whenever I was acting to 'femininely', he would call me a Trixie. And the manufacturer of Barbie is Mattel so I kind of went with Trixie Mattel.”  
“That's not stupid at all!”, Katya exclaimed, “you took that terrible memory and made it your thing. That's amazing!”  
“You think?”, Brian asked and Katya nodded. She stood up, walked over to the couch and sat down next to Brian. She was so close and he was overly aware of her presence,her small body pressed next to him.   
“Thank you for apologizing”, she said and she smelled like smoke, a smell Brian normally hated but with Katya he didn't mind at all.   
“I was an ass”, he said and Katya laughed quietly. Suddenly they heard a faint knock on the door.   
Katya stood up and her knuckles brushed Brian's shoulder lightly. When she opened the door he could hear Keira's voice.  
“Are you and Daddy friends again?”   
Brian stood up and walked to the door as well. Katya chuckled.  
“Yes we are friends”, she said and turned around to look Brian in the eyes, “aren't we?”  
“We sure are”, he said.  
“Good!”, Keira said happily, “Kim says that the food is ready.”  
“Do you want to eat with us?”, Brian asked and all of the sudden Katya looked unsure again.  
“I don't know”, she said, “I don't want to disturb you guys.”  
“Oh bullshit”, he said and Keira giggled at hearing him swear, “Kim's really nice despite of the things I said earlier. Please?”  
“Alright if it's no trouble”, Katya agreed and Keira took her hand. Brian only now noticed that the two of them looked a like. People, who didn't know them could think that they were related.  
They could think she were her mother, Brian thought and that made him weirdly happy. 

Kim had cooked some Asian dish which smelled delicious. He wasn't surprised to see Katya come through the door with them. Instead he wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and hugged her. Katya yelped in surprise.   
“We didn't get a chance to really meet earlier”, he said, “I'm Kim and Brian is really glad that we're meeting. He has no problem with that at all.” Brian shot him an annoyed look but Katya laughed.  
“Thank you”, she grinned.  
They sat down by the table and Katya spotted her painting hanging over the couch.  
“Wow that's a great painting. Where did you get it?”, she joked.  
“I know the artist”, Brian answered grinning, “She's a bit weird but her art is alright, I guess.”  
Katya hit his arm playfully.   
They ate the food Kim had cooked and Brian felt a tiny feeling of victory when Keira ate her vegetables without moaning about it once.   
“You still owe me dinner, though”, Katya said when they had finished eating.   
“Why's that?”, Kim asked too curiously.  
“She wouldn't take money for the painting”, Brian explained, “so I said I'd invite her to dinner.”  
“When do you want to go? I'll take Keira”, he volunteered and smirked at Brian who raised his eyebrows. Subtlety was not Kim's strong suit.  
“Thanks he said”, and shot Kim a warning look which he ignored.  
“So?”, he asked.  
“So what?”  
“When do you want to go?”  
Brian looked over to Katya and she shrugged. “I'm free whenever.”   
“How about tomorrow?”, Kim said before Brian could open his mouth, “what do you think Keira? We're going to have a sleepover! I can make us some popcorn and I'll let you watch movies that your Dad wont let you see.” Keira's eyes went big.  
“Can I really sleep at your place?”, she asked excitedly.  
“Of course, sweetie”, Kim grinned. Brian knew exactly that there had been no need for Kim to offer for Keira to sleep over. He knew exactly what he was planning and he hated that he couldn't do anything about it because for Keira it had already been a done deal. He looked at Katya who was biting her bottom lip.  
“Tomorrow night then?”, he asked and she smiled.  
“Tomorrow night it is.”


	6. Chapter 6

Brian was nervous when he knocked at Katya's door. It's just dinner between friends, he reminded himself, but his hands were sweating regardless. Kim had picked up Keira half an hour ago, when Brian was fresh out of the shower and had just applied too much cologne. Kim had just scrunched his nose and reminded him that it was dinner and not a prom date. Brian had punched him in the arm.  
When Katya opened her door Brian's heart stopped beating. He was sure he would die right there in the dim hallway, standing in front of Katya.   
She wore a red dress covered in fringe. Her black heels made her almost as tall as Brian. Her hair was braided into two braids, that fell down her shoulders to her breasts, which looked bigger than usual. Brian knew that hormones could give you an A cup, and while he was by no means an expert, he was sure that this was at least a C cup. She dressed up for me, he realized. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw the little doll hand clipped to the side of her head.  
“It's fashion, Trixie”, she said as a greeting and Brian had to laugh even more.  
“You look nice”, he said and Katya smiled.  
“I know”, she grinned and Brian snorted. He hadn't offered her his arm but she took it anyway, linking it with her own.  
“You ready?”, she asked and Brian nodded affirmatively.

“So where are we going?”, she asked once they were stood outside of their building. It wasn't quite dark outside yet and it was still relatively warm.  
“There's a Vegetarian Restaurant nearby”, Brian said, “it's a fifteen minute walk, are you up for that?”  
“I have good company”, Katya said and they started walking, arms still linked together.   
“So you said you were into gymnastics?”, Brian asked trying to make conversation.  
“Oh yeah!”, Katya said, “I come from a fitness family, you know? My parents insisted that we all did sports and I stuck with gymnastics.”  
“I thought of singing Keira up for a class”, Brian explained.  
“It's honestly so much fun”, she said, “wait!” she unlinked their arms and looked around herself. Then she pulled up her dress a little and slowly sank into a split. Right there in the middle of the pavement. But because this was LA and people paid her no mind. Well, except for Brian, who watched her with an open mouth.  
“Oh my god”, he exclaimed when she hit the ground. She bounced up and down a couple of times and he laughed. Then she swung her legs around and extended her arm, wiggling her fingers. Brian grabbed her hand and pulled her back up.   
“That was – wow”, he said and Katya smirked.   
“I'm a woman of many talents”, she said and let go of his hand to link their arms again. She was closer now, her side pressed against his and he could feel his skin shivering underneath is clothes. God, the things this woman did to him. 

The restaurant wasn't very crowded even though it was a Saturday. Only a few tables were occupied and Katya and Brian chose a table in the back, further away from where most people were sitting. The walls were painted green and Katya let herself fall onto a white bench while Brian sat down on a chair opposite of her. He watched her as she looked around the restaurant. There were pictures and cloths hanging on the walls. The room was decorated with trinkets that the owner had probably picked up at various flea markets. A little golden elephant figurine was set up next to a hideous red vase. It all was kind of mismatched and it reminded him of Katya's flat. Keira had loved the place when they had discovered it. She had looked around in awe, not unlike Katya. Maybe that was why he decided to bring her here, to see her look around in astonishment and to have an excuse to look at her.  
“This is a really nice place”, she commented after a while and Brian smiled.  
“Keira likes it too”, he said and Katya looked at him with her blue eyes.  
“I can see why.”

“Hi, I'm Jason, I'm your waiter for the evening”, a bored voice suddenly said next to Brian. He looked up at the young man who wore his long black hair in a bun. He wore tight black jeans and a white dress shirt.   
“Can I bring you anything to – BITCH”, he suddenly shrieked loudly. Some heads turned their way and Brian looked at Katya confused but the blonde woman just stared at their waiter open mouthed.  
“Oh. My. God”, she said punctuating every word “you fucking cunt.”   
Now, Brian was really confused. He watched as Katya stood up and pulled Jason into a tight hug. When the separated his hands remained on her shoulders. He looked her up and down.  
“Bitch you look great”, he said a tad too loud, “look at those tittys!”  
“They're not real”, Katya laughed and Jason joined in.  
“Vi, this is Brian”, Katya said, finally turning her head back to Brian, “Brian this is Violet. Well Jason but Violet's fine. They were my roommate when I used to do drag”, she explained.  
“Hi”, Brian waved awkwardly and Jason, or Violet, ignored him. They looked at him quickly and turned their attention back to Katya.  
“Get it girl”, they grinned and Katya hit their arm playfully.   
“So my boss is gonna get really pissy if I don't take your orders soon so what do you guys wanna drink?”, they said and Katya sat back down.  
“I'll just have a water”, she said, “oh no wait! Do you have coffee?”  
“Bitch it's 7:30”, Violet said clearly judging her but Katya just shrugged.  
“I'll have a coffee”, she insisted.  
“And for you?”, Violet turned their attention to Brian, “something with a lot of alcohol and a Xanax when you're having to deal with that one?”, they gestured to Katya and she gasped exaggeratedly.  
“You're a whore”, she said and Violet cackled.   
“I'll uh”, Brian said, “I'll think I'll just have a water?”, he said and felt incredibly awkward.  
“Well don't say I didn't try to warn you”, Violet turned around on their heel and walked off. Katya looked after them.   
“God I haven't seen them in ages”, she sighed.   
“Did they do drag too?”, Brian asked.  
“Oh yeah. I think they still do. At least I hope so, they were so good. God, I had no idea they moved here! The rotted cunt didn't tell me.” Brian chuckled nervously.  
Violet came back with their drinks and set them down before them.   
“So are you ready to order?”  
“You, uh, you never brought as a menu”, Brian said carefully and Katya started her wheezing laugh that Brian loved to hear. She grabbed the edge of the table. Violet just raised an eyebrow at them and turned around to grab them two menus. They dropped them on the table and crossed their arms. They didn't leave like any normal waiter would have, instead they just stood there, tapping their food impatiently. Brian felt incredibly uncomfortable and rushed, so he just ordered the first thing he saw.  
“I'll have the Vegan Caesar Salad”, he said and Violet nodded, not writing his order down. Katya took longer to order. She wasn't phased at all by Violet's presence and looked through the menu multiple times. Violet coughed a few times to signal that they wanted her to hurry but Katya simply ignored her. She finally closed the menu.  
“I'll have the Vegan Caesar salad as well”, she said and handed Violet her menu.   
“Are you fucking kidding me?”, they groaned and Brian had to bite his bottom lip to not start laughing. He didn't know Violet, but he knew that they probably wouldn't appreciate being laughed at. He just handed them his menu and Violet grabbed it from his hand.  
“Oh my god are you losers wearing the same fucking nail-polish?”, they snickered.  
“Fuck off and bring us our food”, Katya said giving Violet a exaggerated smile and they flipped her of. However they did turn around and walked over to the kitchen.  
“Violet's such a bitch”, Katya laughed and Brian smiled at her weakly, not really knowing what to say.  
“But really nice. I miss them.”  
“Yeah they seem...great”, Brian said carefully and Katya let out a laugh.  
“They can come on really strong but once you get to know them, they're the sweetest. If they like you, that is. If not you're fucked.”  
“I'm a bit intimidated”, Brain confessed.  
“When I first met them I thought they wanted to kill me”, Katya laughed, “they are just really really confident.”  
“I can tell”, he said, “So tell me about your drag! If you don't mind, of course.”  
Katya sighed.  
“It was all really confusing”, she explained, “Like, I thought it would be enough to just dress as a woman at night and perform, but it really wasn't. I did like a weird Russian character and I did lipsync performances to Russian songs. I think most of the people that came to my shows thought I was actually from Russia”, she chuckled lightly. Brian didn't say anything to not interrupt her.  
“But like I said it was tough, I was in a really bad place. Like I was on so many drugs, it's a miracle I'm still alive”, she laughed but it sounded forced and nervous. Brian hadn't seen that coming.  
“You don't have to tell me all this”, he said when he realized she was getting more personal than expected.  
“No it's fine”, she said and took a deep breath, “I'm sober now. Apart from weed, but that's not doing any harm. I just took the drugs to feel better, you know? Like, I could forget that I was in this body for a few hours. It felt good. Right somehow. Violet actually helped me a lot at the time when I was trying to stop.” Katya looked at Brian, trying to rad his face.  
“This is a lot, sorry for dumping that all on you”, she said and took a sip of her coffee.  
“I think it's great, that you're so open about this”, Brian said earnestly and she smiled at him weakly.  
“Sometimes it feels good to talk about it”, she shrugged.

Violet came back with their food and looked at them with judging eyes, sensing the mood-shift.  
“Wow, you guys are having a blast, aren't you?”, they snorted, as they set their salads in front of Brian and Katya. They turned around before either of them could respond and walked off to another table.   
“Tell me about you, then”, Katya said and crooked her head slightly.   
“What do you want to know?”, he asked between bites.  
“How does a gay man get a daughter?”, she asked and Brian sighed.  
“I was drunk, I met a girl, I thought 'Hey, maybe I'm not a too big disappointment to my parents if I'm at least bisexual', we had sex, it was awful, I forgot about her, nine months later Keira was at my doorstep and I never saw her again”, he explained, not wanting to go into too much detail.  
“Ouch”, Katya said, “she sounds lovely.”  
“Honestly, I don't even remember what she looked like”, Brian shrugged, “but I sure had a blast, explaining the whole situation to my parents.” Katya smiled sympathetically.   
“Well, from what I can see, she's turning out pretty good”, she said.  
“She is. I never wanted to have kids, but she's just such a sweetheart. Although I would appreciate it, if you'd stop encouraging her to dress the way she does”, he laughed.  
“Hey! Our fashion sense is amazing”, Katya exclaimed and Brian's heart fluttered a bit, when she said 'our'.   
“Is it?”, he questioned and Katya pretended to be shocked.  
“I saw you wearing a fucking fanny pack the other day”, and Brian burst out laughing and Katya started wheezing again, slapping her knee repeatedly. A few people turned their heads and looked at them.  
“Fair enough”, Brian said when he had calmed down. They continued eating in a comfortable silence. Suddenly he could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. Slightly panicked he pulled it out, thinking something might had happened to Keira. But Kim had only sent him a photo o f her, sitting on his couch. Her hair looked ridiculous, Kim had put it into many little ponytails and she was snuggled in a blanket. Her eyes were closed and a bowl of half eaten popcorn was balanced on her lap. Brian smiled fondly at his screen and then turned his phone around to show Katya.  
“Aaaaww”, she squealed and then took his phone from his hands.  
“May I?”, she asked but she was already typing something.  
“There”, she said and and handed it back to him, “I put in my number. Feel free to send me pictures of your child whenever you want. That sounds creepy. I mean that in a non-creepy, non-predatory way.” Brian snorted when he saw what name she had given herself.  
“Russian Hooker”, he read out loud and Katya grinned at him cheekily.  
“Text me something, so I'll have your number as well”, she demanded and Brian considered briefly what to text her. She laughed out loud when she got his text.

To Russian Hooker: How much do you charge?

“More than you can afford, Trixie”, she said as she saved his number.   
“Since your inviting me, I'm going to go the bathroom while you pay, okay?”, she said and stood up before he could say anything.   
He made eye contact with Violet and signaled for them to come over.  
“I'd like to pay”, he said but Violet ignored him and sat down in Katya's seat.  
“Listen”, they said, their voice stern, “I'm going to say a few things to you and you're gonna listen, understood?”, Brian nodded and he hated that he was so intimidated by them.   
“I'm not only sexy, I'm also smart”, they said, “and I know that Katya wants to fuck you,” Brian's eyes widened at that but Violet continued, “and I also know that you want to fuck her.”  
“I don't - “, Brian started but he was interrupted by Violet again.  
“Shut up, yes you do. Katya is very fragile. Katya has been hurt before and she doesn't trust people easily. I don't know why but she seems to trust you.”  
“You haven't talked to her in years”, Brian said, a bit annoyed by the fact that Violet was trying to, to what? To threaten him?  
“I still know her better than you”, Violet said and raised an eyebrow in a challenging way. Brian said nothing.  
“I can also tell that you're gay. And while Katya might have a dick she's still not a man, you understand? She's not going to be the fulfillment of some weird fetish you might have.”  
Violet leaned in closer.  
“I might haven't seen her for a while but if you fucking hurt her I will fucking castrate you!”, they said through gritted teeth. They leaned back again.  
“That's 23$”, they said and stood up, slamming the bill on the table.   
“I don't want to fuck her”, Brian said but the words didn't sound convincingly. Who was he kidding? Yes, he wanted to.  
“Oh, please”, Violet snorted. In that moment Katya came back from the bathroom  
“What's going on?”. She asked, sensing the awkward tension.  
“I'm waiting for him to pay”, Violet said and Brian wondered if it even took effort to sound so annoyed, if they had to practice it or if it just came naturally. He quickly fumbled out his wallet and put some cash on the table, leaving Violet a too high tip. They definitely didn't deserve it but if Brian was being honest, he was kind of afraid of them.   
Katya pulled them into a tight hug and he could see Violet soften. They handed her a piece of paper and said: “Call me. We've got a lot of catching up to do.” Katya kissed their cheek once and pulled away from them, walking over to where Brian was standing. She took his hand as if it was naturally and smiled at Violet.  
“See you around, whore”, she said and Violet winked.   
“Bye cunt”, they said and Brian wondered if that would be how he talked if he had done drag professionally.   
“Uh bye”, he said and waved but Violet just turned around and ignored him. 

The air had cooled down drastically as they stepped outside the restaurant.   
“Fuck”, Katya said, “it's cold!”  
Brian could see her shivering. Reluctantly, he let go of her hand, to take off his jacket. He wrapped it around her shoulders and she glanced at him.  
“Aren't you going to be cold?”, she asked and Brian shook his head.  
“I'm alright”, he said. It was a lie, he was cold, but he found himself thinking that he'd gladly be cold if that meant Katya wasn't.  
“So what did Vi say to you?”, she asked, wrapping her arms around herself.  
“Nothing important”, he lied and he could see that Katya didn't believe him. She didn't pressure him into talking though, and he appreciated it.  
“I have the feeling that they think they're better than me”, he said instead and Katya giggled.  
“They probably are”, she said, “They're better than most people. Problem's just they know it.”  
“Mhmm”, Brian said. He didn't know how to think of Violet and it frustrated him. But Katya seemed to think highly of them and that had to count for something.  
“Thank you for dinner”, Katya said and Brian smiled at her fondly.  
“Thank you for the painting”, he replied.  
“I had fun tonight”, she continued, “it felt great being able to talk so honestly with someone.”  
“Well, if you ever want to talk you have my number, hooker”, Brian grinned and Katya laughed. It was so easy to make her laugh and Brian suddenly felt like this was his sole purpose in life. Making her laugh, making her happy.   
“Sure thing, Tracy”, she said.  
“Trixie”, he corrected but Katya just shrugged.  
“Trixie, Tracy, Tallulah – it's all the same.”  
“If you say so”, he said and they walked next to each other, their bodies close but not quite touching. Brian was cold and Katya had taken a cigarette out of her purse a few minutes ago. He knew that the smell would linger and that it would be hard to wash it out off the jacket but he also knew that he didn't mind, because this was Katya. He knew that he didn't mind that Katya was a woman either. He had found her intriguing ever since he first met her. He knew that he wanted to get to know her better, that he wanted to make her laugh.   
He knew that he wanted to fuck her, or maybe that he wanted to get fucked by her, Violet be damned. She was something else, something new, and Brian was drawn to her. 

They were standing in front of their building and Brian was fumbling with his keys while Katya stepped out her cigarette. He held the door open for her and her side brushed against him when she entered. They climbed up the stairs in silence and Katya stopped at his door. She pulled the jacket from her shoulders and handed it to Brian.  
“Do you, uh, do you want to come in for a drink?”, he asked and all of the sudden he felt nervous.  
“I don't drink, I'm an ex-addict”, she reminded him.  
“Right”, he said but he made no move to enter his flat. 

And then all of the sudden Katya pressed him against his door with a surprising amount of strength and her mouth was on his. Brian gasped in surprise but then he was kissing her back and his hands came to rest on her hips. Katya broke the kiss, too soon for Brian's liking, but her body remained pressed against his. The door handle was digging into his lower back uncomfortably but he couldn't care less. He had dropped the jacket and it was lying to their feet. He could taste smoke on his lips.  
“I can still come in though”, her voice was low and he could feel her breath hot on his cheek, “if you want me to.”  
“Please”, he said, fingers still digging into her side.  
He reached behind him to open his door and they stumbled into his dark flat. It took him a while to find the light switch next to the door but eventually the he got it and there was Katya, standing in his entry area, looking gorgeous despite the crappy lightning. She looked at him, her lips slightly parted and Brian took a step forward, cupping her cheeks.  
“You are so beautiful”, he mumbled before he pressed his lips onto hers and he could feel how she practically melted into the kiss, deepening it. Her fingers gripped the front of his shirt and he could feel her nails through the thin fabric. He pressed her against the door and ow it was her who was trapped. Her hands left his chest and trailed down his body and then she was grabbing his ass and he groaned against her mouth. She chuckled lightly and suddenly her tongue entered his mouth.   
“Where is your bedroom?”, she asked when she broke the kiss, leaving Brian panting for more. He took her hands and led her there. Once they had entered, Katya pushed him onto the bed and then she was on top of him, straddling him. Her mouth was back on his and now Brian was the one who let his hands roam around her back before they came to rest on her ass. Her grabbed it experimentally and she moaned into the kiss. Brian realized her never wanted her to stop making those noises, ever.   
He could feel her hands at the hem of his shirt and he lifted his arms so she could take it off. Katya threw it on the ground next to his bed and her hands were on his chest again. Without the shirt in the way the sensation was so much more and Brian gasped when she flicked his left nipple. He could hear Katya giggle and he loved how she never stopped laughing, not even in a situation like this. She placed little kisses down his chin and Brian moaned when she reached his neck, tipping his head back to give her better access. She licked over his Adam's apple and then she began to suck at the skin at his collarbone. Her fingers were still playing with his nipple and Brian grabbed her ass harder. She moaned into the crook of his neck and Brian knew that she was going to leave a mark, that Kim would tease him over relentlessly but he didn't care. He could feel himself getting hard and he knew that Katya could feel it too because all of the sudden she was grinding down on his lap and Brian moaned loudly.  
“Katya”, he breathed out and she giggled again. She reached around to her back to unzip her dress but Brian was faster. He fumbled with the zipper a little but then he finally managed to pull it down. Katya stood up and was now standing in front of him to step out of her dress. Brian was palming his erection through the fabric of his jeans and he was so aware of his own loud breathing. Katya let the dress fall to the ground and kicked it aside so it was now laying next to Brian's shirt. She wore black lacy underwear. It was matching and Brian asked himself if she had planned all this, if this had been her intention from the beginning. In a touch of doubt he wondered if they were moving too fast but then Katya's hands were back on his chest were back as she pushed him deeper into the mattress.   
He could see that she was hard too.  
She was straddling him again and she rocked her hips so their hard dicks were rubbing together.   
“This is going to be less attractive now”, Katya warned and reached into her bra to pull out two silicone implants that she placed on Brian's bed side drawer.   
“Can I?”, Brian asked and reached around her back to unclasp her bra. After he fumbled with the bra catch for a few seconds, not managing to open it, Katya swatted his hand away.  
“Oh my god, it's really not that difficult”, she rolled her eyes but he could see that she was grinning. She unclasped it in one swift motion and let it fall to the ground.   
Carefully Brian cupped her small breasts with his hands. Katya gasped at the contact and he started to massage her boobs. She moaned and began to grind down harder against his dick.  
“Oh fuck”, she moaned, as he flicked his tongue over her now hard nipple.   
It felt weird to feel breasts in his hand. Weird but not terrible, and hearing Katya's soft moans was definitely worth it.  
He was still wearing his jeans and the hard fabric pressed down uncomfortably on his dick, Katya's grinding was not helping.   
“I need to-”, he started but Katya's hands were already unbuttoning his trousers. She had to leave his lap in order for him to be able to take them off but he whimpered at the loss of contact.  
Once his jeans were finally on the floor he and Katya looked at each other.  
They were both shirtless. A few strands of hair had fallen out of her braids and were now falling into her eye. She pushed them to the side, tucking them behind her ear. Her lip stick was smudged and he could see sweat glister between her breasts. She was breathing heavily, her chest rising quickly. Her cock was hard underneath her lace fabric and Brian wondered if he had ever seen someone this beautiful before.  
He knew that the answer was no.

Brian scooted from the bed and dropped to his knees before Katya. He placed his fingers at the hem of her panties and looked up at her.  
“Is this okay?”, he asked and Katya nodded above him. He pulled down her underwear and her dick sprang free.   
Brian kissed her head and slowly took her dick into his mouth. He could hear Katya hiss above him and he could feel her fingers grabbing his hair.   
He began to move his head, taking Katya deeper into his mouth. He swirled his tongue experimentally and Katya's grip on his hair tightened and she groaned. Brian moaned against her cock and he could feel her bucking her hips. He moved his hands from her hips to her ass to steady himself.   
“Brian”, she moaned, “Brian I'm gonna cum.”   
He started to move his head faster and one hand left Katya's butt to stroke himself. She came while moaning his name and he swallowed her cum. He looked up to her through his eyelashes and her mouth was opened while she panted.  
“Bed!”, she breathed and he laid down on his back. She climbed on top of him and kissed his mouth hungrily. Her tongue was practically licking the inside of her mouth and Brian knew that she had to taste herself.   
Her now soft dick was rubbing against his hard one, sending waves of pleasure. Katya reached between them and started to pump his dick with her hand. He didn't last long and quickly came over her hand and his stomach.   
Katya rolled over and they were lying next to each other in silence. The only thing that could be heard were their loud breathing and panting.

Brian rolled to his side and Katya did the same so they were now facing each other. He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and couldn't resist the urge to stroke her cheek.   
“You are beautiful”, he whispered and she smiled at him.  
“How does it feel?”, Brian asked, “Having sex, I mean.”  
When Katya didn't respond immediately he said:”I'm sorry you don't need to answer that. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.”  
“No it's fine”, she assured and paused for a while, gathering her thoughts.   
“It's weird”, Katya admitted, “it feels wrong. Not because of you! But it doesn't feel right.”  
Brian nodded understandingly. He wasn't offended by her words, not in the least.  
“There was a time when I didn't touch myself”, she said, “I was disgusted by myself. But now I've kind of come to accept it. It's not like it's going anywhere”, she laughed harshly. There was nu humor in it.  
“Don't you want to get surgery?”, Brain asked.  
“Of course”, she said, “but that shit's expensive. Insurance only covers so much.” She sounded frustrated and Brian felt bad for bringing up the topic.   
“I'm sorry”, he just said and Katya smiled at him weakly.   
“It's fine”, she said but Brian knew it wasn't.  
“You should get cleaned up”, she said, motioning to his stomach.   
“You're right”, he said and stood up, feeling bad about leaving Katya, even if it was just for a minute, “Do you need anything?”  
“I'm fine”, she repeated.

When Brian returned, Katya's eyes were closed. He tiptoed around the bed and tried to lay down as gently as possible but when he hit the mattress Katya's eyes opened slowly.  
“Brian?”, she said, “Thank you.”  
“For what?”, he asked.  
“Everything.”  
And with that Katya closed her eyes again and snuggled closer to Brian, draping an arm around him. He didn't know when he drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Brian was woken up by a loud cough. He jerked up and blinked a few times. The room was well-lit and his curtains didn't do much to keep the sun out.  
“What the fuck?”, he asked confused when he spotted Kim standing next to his bed, hands on his hips. He raised an eyebrow at Brian.  
“Good morning”, he said.  
“What's going on?”, Katya asked next to Brian and his head whipped around, having forgotten that she was there. Her hair was a mess and she had pulled up the blanket to cover her breasts. She still was the most beautiful woman Brian had ever seen. She blinked at him with tiered eyes.  
“What time is it?”, Brian asked Kim and he let out a laugh.  
“It's 12 you.”  
“Oh fuck”, Katya groaned.  
Brian glanced at his alarm clock to make sure Kim wasn't lying. He groaned as well when he saw that he was in fact telling the truth.  
“Where's Keira?”, Brian asked, his voice slightly panicked. He didn't want her to burst into the room, seeing Katya in his bed. He didn't have the energy to explain that right now and so he was glad when Kim assured him that she was in her room.  
“How did you even get in here?”, Brian demanded to know. He was more awake now, and able to think a bit more clearly.  
“Your door was open”, he explained, “it seems you were too busy to close it last night”, Kim nodded at Katya and Brian put his face in his hands embarrassed. But Katya just giggled and the sound of her laugh made Brian feel oddly comfortable.  
“Fuck off”, he said to Kim, the sound muffled by his hands but his friend understood him anyway.  
“I'm going to make coffee”, he said and went over to the door. There he turned around and let his gaze wander between Brian and Katya.  
“And put some goddamn clothes on!”, he said before leaving Brian's room, letting the door fall shut behind him. Brian sank back into his pillows and groaned loudly. This was not how he had planned this. Granted, he hadn't planned anything but if he had, Kim finding out about them like this would have not been involved his his plan. He groaned again, thinking of the merciless teasing that would probably await him the next few weeks at work.  
Katya snuggled closer to him and pressed a light kiss to his shoulder.  
“Good morning”, she said in a soft voice and then she giggled again.  
“This is awkward”, Brian sighed and she laughed.  
“I need a cigarette”, she said and Brian could feel her warm body next to his own move. She got out of the bed, naked, and went over to her purse. Brian had to hold back a moan when she bent over, presenting her ass. She grabbed her pack of cigarettes and a lighter and walked over to his window. She opened it and lit her cigarette.  
There was a naked woman in his room, smoking.  
Brian rubbed his temples and wondered if this might be a dream.  
He got up with a sigh and went over to his wardrobe taking out two boxershorts and two shirts. He laid one pair on his bed for Katya and put on the other one.  
“I'm going to look after Keira”, he said and Katya acknowledged it with a nod, while she was blowing smoke out of the window.  
Brian closed the door behind him quietly, and rested against it for a moment. Then he walked over to Keira's room. She wasn't there but Kim had heard him opening the door.  
“Kitchen”, he called out.  
Keira was sitting on the kitchen counter, her legs dangling of it. Kim shoved a cup of coffee in Brian's hands when he entered the room and he smiled at him gratefully.  
“Hey honey”, he said and pressed a kiss to Keira's forehead before leaning on the counter next to her, “how was sleeping at Kim's?”  
“I want to go again!”, Keira's eyes lit up, “we watched two movies and I was allowed to eat a whole bowl of popcorn!”, she recounted excitedly.  
“That sounds fun”, Brian said and took a sip of coffee. He almost choked on it when Katya entered the room. She had brushed her hair, so that it was falling down her shoulder now, slightly curled. She was wearing his shirt, that was a bit too big for him and it almost looked like a dress on her. It went down to her thighs and she hadn't put on the boxers that he had laid out for her. She was barefoot and in his shirt she looked tiny.  
She grabbed a cup of coffee and winked at Keira.  
“Morning, sweetheart”, she said. If Keira was confused she didn't let it show.  
“Did you have a sleepover too?”, she asked and Kim let out a stiff laugh.  
“You could say so”, Katya said, ignoring Kim. She took Keira's hand and inspected her nails. The nail-polish was already chipped.  
“Hey do you want to come up later to redo your nails?”, Katya asked, changing the topic cleverly.  
Keira nodded excitedly.  
Katya moved so she was now standing next to Brian, her side pressing into his.  
“Keira”, Kim said, “why don't you go to your room and set up something to play with?” Brian knew that this was a maneuver for Kim to get to speak with him and Katya alone and he couldn't even be mad at his friend. Keira hopped off the counter and bounced to her room giddily.  
When they heard her door shut, Kim turned around to look at them with raised eyebrows.  
“Soo”, he said, “anything you want to tell me?”  
“It's none of your business”, Brian mumbled into his cup, before gulping down the last sip of coffee.  
“It is, when I come to bring Keira over and your still asleep”, Kim sounded offended.  
“Look, Kim”, Brian said pitting down his cup, “I'm sorry. I really am. But I don't know what you want to hear from us.”  
“I think it's fairly obvious”, Katya chimed in, “why do you want details?”  
“Ew no!”, Kim said and his face scrunched up.  
“Just- don't let me find you in bed together, I guess?”  
“Noted”, Katya said and Brian was well too aware of the implication that this hadn't been a one time thing. That Katya wanted to repeat their night together.  
“I'm going to look after Keira”, Kim said, “don't-” he threw his hands up and left without finishing the sentence.  
Suddenly Katya was I front of Brian, pressing him against the counter. Her face was so close to his and he could smell her morning breath. He was surprised to find that he didn't mint it at all. Katya stood on her toes to reach Brian's lips with her own and pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth. Brian put his arm around her waist but before he could pull her in even closer he heard Kim's voice.  
“Jesus Christ it has been ten seconds”, he complained and Katya quickly twisted herself free from his embrace.  
“Uh Brian you should probably come see this”, Kim said and he sounded unsure.  
“What is it?”, Brian asked slightly nervous at Kim's tone.  
“Just...look”, Kim said and Brian followed him to what he thought would be Keira's room but Kim passed it and motioned to the bathroom instead. Brian looked at him questioningly but Kim only pushed him forward.  
“Oh God”, was the only thing he could say as he looked at Keira sitting on the closed toilet.  
“What have you done?”  
Keira was holding a scissor and the ground beneath her was covered in strands of hair. The hair still on her head only reached the tip of her ears instead of falling down her shoulders. It looked uneven and the left side was longer than the right. It looked a mess.  
“What's going on?”, he could hear Katya ask behind him and then an “Oh”, as she spotted Keira who had crossed her arms defiantly.  
“I cut my hair”, she said.  
“I see”, Katya said and her voice sounded a bit unsure.  
“Keira”, Brian crouched down in front of her, “why did you do this?”  
“Because I wanted to”, she said and Brian tried to control his breathing to not get mad.  
“I think it looks fabulous”, Katya said behind him and his head whipped around to glare at her.  
“You should have asked me”, he said to Keira, his voice decidedly calm.  
“Why?”, she asked and Brian couldn't help but to raise his voice slightly.  
“Because you can't just cut your own hair! Look how short it is now!”  
“Jacob in my class has short hair too”, Keira complained and her bottom lip was trembling. Brian could see that she was on the verge of tears and he did not want her to throw a tantrum now.  
“Yeah but Jacob is-”, he started and then he abruptly stopped when he realised what he was about to say. But he knew that everyone in the room already knew what he had wanted to say, the unspoken words hanging in the air.  
But Jacob is a boy.  
He slowly turned his head to look at Katya. She was standing there, in his too big t-shirt. Her mouth was open in disbelief and she shook her head slightly when his eyes met hers. She turned around, her hair flipping over her shoulder. She walked away without saying a word and Brian flinched when he heard the door snap shut.

“You fucked up royally”, Kim said, breaking the silence.  
“Yes, thank you”, Brian snapped and then Keira started to cry. Brian wished he was four too, so he could just join her. He certainly felt like crying.  
“Honey it's okay”, he said while uncrossing her arms to take her hands.  
“I'm not mad.”  
“But Katya is”, Keira sobbed and Brian could feel his heart shatter.  
“She's not mad at you”, he promised while running his hand up and down her arm, “She's mad at me. I said something mean.”  
He took a piece of toilet paper to dry her tars and Keira sniffled.  
“What did you say?”, she asked and Brian sighed. He leaned against the cold tiles of the bathroom. Kim was still standing in the door frame.  
“Do you remember a few days ago when you asked what trans meant?”, Brian asked and Keira nodded.  
“Well, sometimes boys or girls are born in the wrong body. Sometimes a girl is born as a boy.”  
“Why?”, Keira asked and Brian shrugged.  
“I'm not sure. You know, some people can't pet dogs without sneezing? It's just a genetic mistake.” Keira nodded.  
“And Katya was born as a boy even though she is a girl. And that's very hard. She felt like something was wrong with her, when she was growing up.”  
“But there isn't anything wrong with Katya!”, Keira interrupted him.  
“No there isn't. But when I said that you couldn't have short hair because you are not a boy that really hurt her feelings. Because when she was growing up there were people who told her that he couldn't do things because she wasn't a girl.”  
“But she is”, Keira said and Brian nodded.  
“She is, yes. But not everyone could see that right away. And I want you to know that you can be whatever you want to be and that you can have any haircut in the world because I will love you regardless.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Keira's now short hair.  
“I want to be a girl”, she said and he smiled into her hair.  
“And girls can have short hair”, he said, “I was being stupid.”  
Keira giggled at that.  
“You're a stupid Daddy.”  
Kim huffed behind them.  
“Yes he is”, he said and took a step forward to put his hands on Brian's shoulders in a comforting way, “and he's going to have to apologise.”  
“I will”, Brian said and stood up. Keira's eyes were still red but she was smiling now. 

Suddenly a shrill sound interrupted them and it took Brian a while to realise that his phone was ringing. Which was weird. Because no one ever called him. No one except for – Brian groaned when he saw the caller ID and realised he was right.  
“Yes?”, he asked as he picked up and he really was doing his best to not sound annoyed already but he couldn't help it.  
“Brian!”, his mother chirped, too loud. She still didn't understand that she didn't have to shout all the way from Milwaukee for him to hear her.  
“Hi mum”, he said and Kim gave him a sympathetic look.  
“Brian, we're in LA, we're going to be there in 2 hours”, his mother declared and Brian almost screamed.  
“Why didn't you say something? I could have plans for all you know!”, Brian said angrily and his mother made a disapproving sound on the other line.  
“We wanted to surprise you. We haven't seen Keira in a while”, his mother explained and Brian looked at his daughter with panic in his eyes. She looked horrible, her hair was cut unevenly and there was no way in hell that his mother would find the whole thing funny. She would somehow find a way to blame it on him and then she would make Brian feel guilty and accuse him of being a bad father. A girl needs a mother, she would say and sooner or later Brian would run out of arguments or simply out of energy to have a discussion with his mother. His dad would stand there and nod along, occasionally making affirmative grunts. Always, always siding with his wife, never with Brian.  
“Listen, mum, this is really not a good time”, he tried to speak up but he was soon cut off by her.  
“Oh, nonsense! We'll be there soon! Love you”, and with these words she hung up, leaving Brian defenseless and without a choice.  
“Are they coming?”, Kim asked. He could probably read Brian's face.  
“In two hours”, he said and looked around. He would have to clean the bathroom, there was hair lying everywhere. He should probably vacuum the kitchen as well and his parents would expect coffee and cake. Keira looked a mess but it was Sunday and there would be no hair salons opened today. He could cut it himself but he didn't have the right equipment and he hadn't cut hair in years. There was also no time and there was still Katya.  
Katya who probably hated him by now.  
He hadn't realised that he was shaking until Kim took his trembling hands in his.  
“We've got this”, he said, looking Brian in the eyes.  
“I'll clean and bake a cake or something, okay? You go talk to her.”  
“She won't talk to me”, Brian whispered.  
“Then you will talk until she has no choice”, Kim said sternly and began to lead Brian to the front door.  
“I can't”, Brian said and he wanted to turn around but Kim blocked the way.  
“Fucking go”, he said and pushed him out of the door. 

Brian stood in front of his door for at least ten minutes, contemplating what he was going to say. When he finally climbed up the stairs and knocked on Katya's door he had forgotten every word he had so carefully put together. It didn't matter, because Katya didn't open the door. Brian knocked again and again but Katya ignored him.  
“Katya?”, he finally called out and he was shocked at how broken down his own voice sounded, “Katya, please. I know you're there, I-”, he exhaled, “I was a fucking idiot, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Katya”, he could feel tears well up in his eyes.  
“I know that you probably don't want to have anything to do with me ever again but I'm sorry. I am so so sorry.” He immediately shut up when he could hear shifting behind the door.  
“Katya?”, he called out after a few seconds of silence. Nothing.  
“Keira thought that it was her fault somehow”, he said and at the mention of Keira's name the door was being opened slowly. Katya was still wearing his shirt. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and Brian could feel a tug in his stomach.  
“I hope you explained to her that you are the one who is a massive dickhead”, Katya said and he could hear that she was trying to sound confident but her voice broke at the last second.  
“I did”, Brian reassured, “I did and I explained what trans means and I told her that it didn't matter and-”  
“God Brian, it's a fucking haircut. It doesn't mean that she's fucking trans”, Katya interrupted.  
“I know!” Brian said and he put his hands up just to let them fall to his side again, “what I'm trying to say is, that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to me, Katya.”  
“Well, it should”, Katya said crossing her arms.  
“I mean it matters but I don't like you any less or more because of it”, Brian said helplessly, “I like you for you and I don't care that you're a woman. Maybe I'm not that gay, I don't know. But I don't care. I like you. I really do. And so does Keira. And I know that I fucked up big time. And I'm sorry.” He looked at her, trying to read her face. She was biting the inside of her cheek and her arms were still crossed.  
“You are such an idiot”, she finally said, but her face softened, “I forgive you.”  
Brian could feel the knot in his stomach loosen and he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.  
“Thank you”, he said and stood there unsure for a moment. Katya blinked at him and he took a step forward to wrap his arms around her. He was hugging her tight, but not too tight. He could feel her breath against his neck as he hugged him back.  
“Thank you”, he whispered again against the top of her head.  
They stood there in Katya's hallway for a while, embracing each other. Eventually Brian pulled back to look her in the face. He gently kissed the corner of her mouth.  
“I'm still mad”, she said and he quickly drew back but he could see that she was smiling.  
“I need to go back downstairs”, he said after a while, “my parents just announced that they were coming. God, that's gonna be a mess”, he groaned.  
“Oh”, Katya said, “they're not gonna like Keira's new hair are they?”  
“They are going to fucking flip”, he confessed, “very,and I mean very traditional gender roles. Having an occasionally cross-dressing, gay son who's a single dad almost brought my mother to her grave”, he joked.  
“Well semi-gay”, he added when Katya raised her eyebrows slightly.  
“Plus you can't argue that Keira isn't the most talented hairstylist.”  
“I think she looks amazing”, Katya said, “asymmetry should be celebrated more across the world.” Brian laughed but Katya's look suggested that she hadn't been joking.  
“Wait are you serious?”, he asked.  
“Dead”, she said, “but I can see why your parents maybe wouldn't be into it. My mum's a hairstylist, I can take Keira there and ask if she can fix it?”, Katya suggested and Brian could have kissed her. He didn't, only because the had just fought and it didn't seem appropriate, but he definitely felt like it.  
“Katya, that would save my ass. Thank you. I really owe you.” Katya simply shrugged.  
“You're lucky I still think your ass is cute.”

Brian and Kim had worked a miracle, Brian was sure of it. When his parents arrived, his house smelled of a freshly baked banana bread and coffee. The floor in his kitchen was spotless and not a single hair was to be found in the bathroom. He had fluffed the pillows on the couch and Kim had karate-chopped them “to entertain the stereotypes”. He had left precisely five minutes before his mum had knocked on the door, making it look like Brian had done all the work by himself. There was only one problem.  
“Where's Keira?”, his mum said, looking around instead of a greeting.  
“Hello to you too”, Brian grumbled but his mum just stalked past him, pushing her coat between his arms, signaling for him to hang it on the coat rack.  
“Hello, son”, his father said, somewhat awkwardly and Brian nodded.  
“Hey.”  
“So where is she?”, his mum called from the kitchen and Brian sighed.  
“She should be here any second. I told you it wasn't a good time!”  
He went to the kitchen, where his mother was sitting in one of the chairs. His dad trotted behind him.  
“I should warn you, though, she-”  
“We're here!”, he was interrupted by Katya. She came into the kitchen.  
“Oh”, she said, when she spotted Brian's parents, “they're already here.”  
His mother gasped when she saw Keira. Suddenly Brian regretted that they hadn't seen her before Katya took her to her mum, because she looked much better. Her hair was a tad shorter now but much more even. Pat had put a bit of gel in them so they were styled. Brian had to admit, that it suited her. She looked a little bit cheeky.  
“What have you done?”, his mother asked Brian aghast. He put his hands up in defence.  
“I haven't done anything”, he said, “it was Keira's idea”, he turned to face his daughter, “you look amazing, honey, that's much better.”  
“Don't you dare to think I'm stupid, I know that was your idea”, his mother hissed.  
“Nope”, Keira simply said, popping the p, “I did it. And Pat.”  
His mum turned to Katya know, acknowledging her for the first time.  
“Are you Pat?”  
“Uh no, that's Katya”, Brian jumped in, “she's my, uh, Katya.” His mother looked at him with raised eyebrows.  
“She's my neighbour”, Brian said blushing, “Pat is her mother. She's a hairdresser.”  
“Hi”, Katya said and extended her hand towards Brian's mother. She didn't take it. Instead she focused on Keira.  
“But you had such pretty blonde hair!”, she complained and it sounded accusatory.  
“Mum, please. It's just hair”, he said, trying to defend his daughter, “it grows back.”  
“I don't want it to grow back”, Keira said, crossing her arms. I like it.”  
Brian wondered how a four year old got that much confidence.  
“What is that?”, his mother asked all of the sudden and took Brian's hand.  
“Uh, nail-polish?”, Brian stammered.  
“Why?”, his mother asked, her eyes widening.  
“Because Keira- God, Mum, I'm 24, I don't have to explain myself to you!”, he said drawing his hands back. His mother raised her eyebrows.  
“I think it looks nice”, Katya chimed in and her mother glared at her.  
“I do not recall, asking for your opinion, Katie.”  
“Katya”, Brian said and now it was his turn to be glared at.  
“Let's just all sit down to have some coffee”, his father said, trying to ease the tension.  
“Well, it was a pleasure to meet you”, Katya said and Brian could tell by her voice that she didn't mean it.  
“You can stay if you want”, he said and his mother gasped again.  
“I thought this was supposed to be a family thing”, she said and Brian whipped around.  
“This wasn't supposed to be anything”, he growled, “this is my flat and when I say Katya can stay, she can stay”, his voice sounded angrier than intended and his mother was clearly taken aback, her mouth was hanging open, gaping like a fish.  
“No it's fine”, Katya said and looked at Brian's mother, “I don't want to disturb anything.” She stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to Brian's cheek.  
“I'll talk to you later”, she whispered and turned around. She ruffled through Keira's hair as she walked away, messing it up again. Keira giggled and walked over to the table to sit next to her grandmother. Brian sighed and poured his parents and himself some coffee while Keira got a glass of orange juice.  
“Thank you”, she said and Brian felt a tiny pang of victory over her showing politeness in front of his parents.  
They sat down and ate in silence.  
“That Katya-”, his mother started and Brian involuntarily tightened the grip around his fork, “is she a man?”  
“No”, he said, not wanting to discuss Katya with his parents.  
“She's trans”, Keira piped up, proud to present the new word she learned. Under any other circumstances Brian would have been proud too, but Keira had now undoubtedly proven herself to have terrible timing.  
“Where did you learn that word?”, his father asked.  
“From Daddy”, Keira answered.  
“Don't you think she's a little young to know about such things?”, his father asked, looking at Brian sternly.  
“No, I do not”, Brian said, “she's perfectly able to understand 'such things'.”  
“Well, do you think it's good that she's growing up under the influence of people like that?”, his mother asked, “If you ask me she's too young to-”  
“I didn't ask you”, Brian interrupted her, his voice raised.  
“Brian-”, his father said warningly, but Brian ignored him.  
“If you have something against the way I raise my daughter or the people I surround myself with, you are more than welcome to leave”, he said through gritted teeth.  
“We just think, that it would be best for Keira to come to Milwaukee for a while. This city isn't right for a young girl”, his mother said and Brian was just about to say something when Keira spoke up.  
“I don't want to come to Milwaukee. I like it here and I like Katya. She's my friend.”  
A wave of affection for his daughter hit Brian.  
“Keira that decision isn't up to you”, his mother said and Brian had to control himself to not yell.  
“But it is up to me, and when Keira says she wants to stay, then Keira stays.”  
“Brian.”  
“Mum”, he said challengingly.  
“You are on very thin ice here”, she warned and Brian couldn't help but to laugh out loud.  
“I am?”, he asked, “This is my flat. And I think it's best that you leave now.”  
“Are you throwing us out?”, his mother asked shocked and Brian stood up.  
“Yes, I am. Are you honestly surprise by that? You come into my house, insult my daughter and my friend and basically tell me that I'm not a good father? I don't need to hear that right now.”  
His mother gasped for air.  
“This is unbelievable”, she said and turned to her husband, “come on, we're leaving.”  
This was typically her, Brian thought. Making it look like she had made the decision to leave. But he wasn't going to correct her, risking to start a new argument. He walked over to the door, opening it, and handed her her coat.  
His parents left without another word.

He knocked on Katya's door again, after he had put Keira to bed. After his parents had left he had talked to her, feeling bad that she had to witness the fight between her dad and her grandparents. But she seemed fine and not all too phased by it. She was mostly just excited for school on Monday to show Jacob and her other friends her new hair style.  
He had called Kim to tell him how the unfortunate visit ended and to thank him for his help. Kim had asked if he needed Monday off but Brian had declined thankfully. He needed a distraction. And now he was back where it all started, standing in front of Katya's door, hearing her shift behind it.  
How'd it go?”, she asked as she opened her door but her face and voice already disclosed that she knew.  
“Terribly”, Brian answered anyway and Katya opened the door more so he could come in. They sat next to each other on Katya's couch.  
“I had to throw them out”, he said after telling her the whole story, “They were acting unbelievable.”  
“You stood up for yourself. And for Keira. That takes courage, especially if it's your own parents.”  
“I guess so”, he shrugged, “I'm just worried that they are going to take her anger of on Keira. They're the only family she has.”  
“She has you”, Katya interjected, “and she has Kim. And if you ever need any help, you know where to find me. A family doesn't always need to be connected by blood.”  
Brian smiled at her suggesting that she considered herself part of Keira's family.  
“You're right”, he said.  
“I always am”, she agreed and then her body was shaking with the laughter, Brian loved so much.  
“What are we going to do?”, she asked after she calmed down.  
“What do you mean?”, he asked but he knew what she meant.  
“Us two”, she said and Brian noticed her hand twitching nervously. He took them in his.  
“We can try this. If you want. Maybe we can go for dinner again? To another place, though, I don't need your friends threatening to cut off my dick again.” Katya threw her head back and laughed, her hands still in Brian's.  
“Let's try it”, she agreed, “and I'm sure we'll find another restaurant. I'm always open to something new.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading! Feel free to visit me on Tumblr @trixyaas


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